Program Expanded Opportunities for Hundreds of
Small and Diverse Businesses, Helping to Promote Economic
Prosperity
SAN DIEGO, March 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego Gas
& Electric's (SDG&E) procurement program generated
$2.59 billion in direct economic
impact in 2023, contracting with more than 2,000 businesses for
goods and services to deliver on the company's mission to serve the
3.7 million people in its service area with increasingly clean,
safe and reliable energy infrastructure.
More than 43% of SDG&E's total expenditures were with
diverse suppliers – enterprises owned by minorities, women,
LGBT individuals, service-disabled veterans and persons with
disabilities, according to the company's annual supplier diversity
report submitted recently to the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC). Nearly 600, or a third of the suppliers who did
business with SDG&E in 2023, were diverse businesses. In 2023,
SDG&E's spending with diverse businesses reached $450.6 million in San
Diego County and $950.7
million in California. For
the 19th consecutive year, SDG&E has not only met but surpassed
the CPUC's supplier diversity goal.
"We are laser-focused on maximizing every dollar for our
customers, while also growing economic opportunities for small and
diverse businesses in our region," said SDG&E CEO
Caroline Winn. "Championing people
by creating opportunities through diversity, equity and inclusion
is one of our core values."
SDG&E contracts with suppliers for a wide range of goods and
services, everything from vegetation management, undergrounding,
civil engineering and electric construction to IT, fire prevention,
project management and material procurement and transport. Since
launching its supplier diversity program in the 1980s, SDG&E
has helped many small businesses grow into primes. Some of the
company's diverse primes are paying it forward by serving as
mentors to diverse subcontractors.
Last year, for the first time, SDG&E engaged Rancho
Tree Service, a Minority Business Enterprise, as a prime contractor
to provide vegetation management services – an important component
of the company's Wildfire Mitigation Plan.
"We are a family-owned business, and we are proud of our local
operation and the jobs we have created through our vegetation
management work with SDG&E," said Jose
De La Cruz, owner of Rancho Tree Service. "Our crews help
keep local communities safe from wildfires by trimming and clearing
trees, bushes and other plants to prevent them from coming into
contact with our electric infrastructure, such as power lines."
"Large employers like SDG&E play a significant role in
sustaining and growing our region's economy because of the large
volume of goods and services they purchase," said Mark Cafferty, president and chief executive
officer of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation.
"Our research has shown that if major companies make small shifts
in procurement to direct more spending locally, it can help create
thousands of jobs and add tens of millions of dollars to the local
economy."
SDG&E continues to grow its diverse supplier pool through
collaboration with community-based organizations and business
associations. Learn more about how to do business with SDG&E at
sdge.com/SupplierDiversity.
About SDG&E:
SDG&E is an innovative
energy delivery company that provides clean, safe and reliable
energy to better the lives of the people it serves in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The company is committed to
creating a sustainable future by increasing energy delivered from
low or zero-carbon sources; accelerating the adoption of electric
vehicles; and investing in innovative technologies to ensure the
reliable operation of the region's infrastructure for generations
to come. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE). For more
information, visit SDGEnews.com or connect with SDG&E on X
(formerly Twitter) (@SDGE), Instagram (@SDGE) and Facebook.
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SOURCE SDG&E